The owner of two employment staffing companies was sentenced in federal court to 52 months in prison and a $50,000 fine for engaging in a scheme to submit fraudulent H-1B petitions for foreign workers. Previously, Sunitha Guntipally had pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, obstruction of justice, use of false documents, mail fraud and witness tampering.

Judge Lucy Koh stated the defendant’s conduct undermines respect for our legal immigration system and does tremendous damage to our institutions and affects the rights of others to immigrate to the United States.

Guntipally and her husband, who own employment staffing companies DS Soft Tech and Equinett, and two co-conspirators submitted more than 100 fraudulent H-1B petitions to foreign workers to be placed at companies that either did not exist or never received the workers, according to federal prosecutors. The U.S. attorney’s office said the applications were intended to create a pool of H-1B beneficiaries who could then get hired by other companies, thereby unfairly giving Guntipally and her co-conspirators an advantage over other competing employment staffing firms.

This case is another example of individuals being criminally liable for immigration law violations. For more information about immigration compliance issues, I invite you to read The I-9 and E-Verify Handbook, which I co-authored and is available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0997083379.

In mid-December, the federal government, through the U.S. Attorney’s office in Memphis and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), indicted 20 undocumented workers for using fake identification to get their jobs. These workers were employed at Expeditors International, a Memphis logistics company, and hired through a staffing agency, Provide Staffing Services.

Robert Hammer, assistant special agent in charge with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a branch of ICE, stated the federal government is aggressively pursuing this case because the undocumented workers had access to a sensitive air cargo area at Memphis International Airport that required special clearance. “It is imperative for the safety and security of our airports, seaports and railyards that all individuals requiring this type of special vetting present valid and genuine identification documents in the hiring process,” he said.

The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, Michael Dunavant, stated ICE plans to increase its focus on this type of criminal investigation in Tennessee throughout 2018. "Our enforcement strategy is going to be dual-pronged, focusing on both employers and the employees. According to the U.S. Attorney, no one with the companies that hired the workers has been indicted but the investigation is ongoing.

If it is determined that the staffing company and/or Expeditors International had knowledge, actual or constructive, that the workers’ identification documents used in the I-9 work authorization process were fake, the companies and management would be subject to criminal prosecution by the federal government. It appears the federal government is taking this very seriously due to the workers’ access to a sensitive air cargo area that required special clearance.

I expect ICE to continue to crackdown on employers’ use of undocumented workers in 2018. If you want a better understanding of the possible criminal and civil sanctions against employers within immigration compliance, I recommend you read my book, The I-9 and E-Verify Handbook, which is available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0997083379.

Asplundh Tree Experts has agreed to pay $95 million concerning the employment of undocumented workers. This is the largest monetary penalty ever levied by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in an immigration case. Based on Asplundh Tree Experts Company’s guilty plea in federal court, the Court imposed a sentence of $80 million forfeiture money judgment. Pursuant to a separate Civil Settlement Agreement, Asplundh will pay an additional $15 million dollars to satisfy civil claims arising out of their failure to comply with immigration law.

Asplundh, an industry leader in tree trimming and brush clearance for power and gas lines, headquartered in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to unlawfully employing aliens, regarding a scheme in which the highest levels of Asplundh management remained willfully blind while lower level managers hired and rehired employees they knew to be ineligible to work in the United States.

Court documents show the hiring system was developed after a 2009 I-9 inspection by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which revealed Asplundh employed workers who were ineligible to work in the country. Asplundh fired at least 100 of them, but a regional manager, Larry Gauger, later instructed supervisors to hire some of them back by accepting fake forms of identification, including permanent resident cards or Social Security cards. Gauger knew the dismissed employees within his region were being re-hired under different and false names and false identity documentation and encouraged his supervisors and general foreman to continue this practice.

Thereafter, the investigation revealed Asplundh decentralized its hiring so Sponsors (the highest levels of management) could remain willfully blind while Supervisors and General Foremen (2nd and 3rd level supervisors) hired ineligible workers, including unauthorized aliens, in the field. Hiring was by word of mouth referrals rather than through any systematic application process. This manner of hiring enabled Supervisors and General Foremen to hire a work force that was readily available. This decentralized model tacitly perpetuated fraudulent hiring practices that, in turn, maximized productivity and profit.

The amount of the $80 million forfeiture was determined by a review of Asplundh’s payroll, which showed the employment of thousands of undocumented immigrants over four years. Asplundh had a workforce of approximately 30,000. Investigators determined that Asplundh used the fraudulent techniques to hire at least 10 percent of its workforce — or about 3,000 to 4,000 workers — in a four-year span, and earned $800 million in profits during that stretch. The presiding Judge, Josh A. Davison, said the idea of a forfeiture is to seize illegal gains, so the government reasoned that the illegally hired 10 percent of the workforce generated 10 percent of the profits. Thus, 10% of $80 million is $80 million.

Prior to the company’s guilty plea, regional manager Gauger has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced in October 2017, along with two supervisors, Juan Rodriguez and Jude Solis, who pleaded guilty in the same conspiracy.

This case is another example of the U.S. government cracking down on employers who violate the immigration laws.

By Bruce Buchanan, Sebelist Buchanan Law PLLC
A husband and wife and four co-conspirators, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States of at least $20 million concerning more than 800 applications for illegal immigration benefits under the H-1B visa program.

The indictment alleges that Raju Kosuri set up a network of shell companies that he presented to immigration authorities as independent businesses in need of Indian workers, but which he in fact owned and controlled. The indictment further alleges that Kosuri and his co-conspirators used these entities to file petitions for non-existent job vacancies at Kosuri’s data center in Danville, Virginia. Kosuri is alleged to have required workers to pay their own visa processing fees, in violation of H-1B program rules; and he allegedly treated the beneficiaries as hourly contractors, again in violation of H-1B visa program rules. The visa fraud scheme involved the forgery of numerous individuals’ signatures on visa petitions and exhibits, without their knowledge.

The three main co-conspirators, Kosuri, his wife, Smriti Jharia and Raimondo Piluso face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, if convicted. The other co-conspirators face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted.

Le Grande Tetons, LLC, a company that owns and operates Twin Peaks, a sports bar/restaurant with two locations in Wichita, Kansas, pleaded guilty in federal court to hiring undocumented workers.

In September 2013, ICE conducted a Form I-9 inspection at the two Twin Peaks Wichita locations and identified more than 20 unauthorized workers. Afterwards, a Twin Peaks manager agreed to immediately fire the employees, but, in fact, rehired many of these employees. Thereafter, federal search warrants were executed at both Twin Peaks locations in July 2014.

As a result of a plea agreement in the case, the court imposed a fine of $50,000 on the company. According to the plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office agreed not to pursue any additional charges against the owners, current employees or former employees of Le Grande Tetons, with the exception of two former management employees who remain under federal investigation.

This investigation is an example of ICE’s new policy to emphasize criminal investigations of those employees who flaunt the law by not rehiring or discharging undocumented workers.